It seems the consensus is that we're going to meet on Jan 24th at 1900 at Gary's BBQ in China Grove. For GPS the address is: 620 U.S. 29 China Grove, NC 28023

Alright everyone,

This was brought up a while back and we couldn't get a time and date nailed down for everyone to meet up and talk shop.

I thought perhaps we could revisit this again. I was thinking we could all meet for a meal somewhere and bring radios, scanners, computers, etc that way if someone needs some help programming or troubleshooting an issue then we could help them. I think this would be especially helpful for our newer members or those not as well versed as some are in how things work.

One other thing............ Would anyone be interested in "founding" a scanner/radio club along with me for our folks in Rowan, Cabarrus, Iredell, Davie, etc Counties? Something similar to what Marshall (KE4ZNR) does up in Raleigh.

Marshall if you read this could you give us some ideas on what your group does, and how you guys "run" your meetings at Red Hot & Blue?

I'd be interested in such a group as well. With my location in NW Randolph County, how about splitting the difference at perhaps a Lexington BBQ establishment or somewere along the I-85 & US64 (94MM) area?

I'd be interested in such a group as well. With my location in NW Randolph County, how about splitting the difference at perhaps a Lexington BBQ establishment or somewere along the I-85 & US64 (94MM) area?

K4NWJ

That may not be an issue, though some from Cabarrus and farther south that may be involved might want to meet down this way some as well. Maybe we could move the meetings around to make them more convenient. I guess that's something we'll have to look at once we see what the interest/involvement is.

Salisbury/Lexington seems like a nice midpoint between all the major cities around here (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Asheboro, etc)

I'm not against Lexington either. Dang good BBQ up that way if everyone is so inclined. Is there nights that work better for anyone over others? The only restrictions I have is Wednesday nights because of commitments with church, and the first Tuesday of the month for other commitments.

Also, Chris & Shannon, what would you guys think about us starting a monitoring club for this region? I think it might be something we could get off the ground. Also looking for name suggestions. Let me know what you guys think !!

This was brought up a while back and we couldn't get a time and date nailed down for everyone to meet up and talk shop.

I thought perhaps we could revisit this again. I was thinking we could all meet for a meal somewhere and bring radios, scanners, computers, etc that way if someone needs some help programming or troubleshooting an issue then we could help them. I think this would be especially helpful for our newer members or those not as well versed as some are in how things work.

One other thing............ Would anyone be interested in "founding" a scanner/radio club along with me for our folks in Rowan, Cabarrus, Iredell, Davie, etc Counties? Something similar to what Marshall (KE4ZNR) does up in Raleigh.

Marshall if you read this could you give us some ideas on what your group does, and how you guys "run" your meetings at Red Hot & Blue?

Let me know what you guys think !!

I would be up for it, most definitely! I am in the Charlotte area (actually about 20 mins west of Charlotte downtown) but would possibly be willing to travel depending on the distance. I've been scanning/radio'ing for 20 years now and have never grown tired of it! I am currently a live feed provider here for Lincoln County, NC. Also, I have currently a Uniden BCT-15X and I love it, but since most everyone in this area is on/going to the digital VIPER system I am wanting to buy a digital scanner but not wanting to pay the $300+ for a new one... If anyone has a digital scanner for sale that they don't want or use anymore please let me know! I'm very interested to hear how the details of this idea end up working out.

Would be nice! There's talk of a train station in lexington to be done...sometime... too, so once that is done(IF it is, I can only hope!), I can just hop the Piedmont or Carolinian from Kannapolis to Lexington or somethin'! Either way, no matter where we meet(though that'll depend if I GO, hah), I'm DEFINITELY interested!

Going to help you guys out by sticking this thread for little
while.
The Tarheel Scanner/Shortwave Radio group is actually
an offshoot of the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society.
It has been around for many years now. We meet once a
month on the 3rd Monday of each month (except for major holidays).
We gather at a Raleigh Based BBQ restaurant at 6:30pm for dinner
and a presentation at 7:30pm.
We used to have a weekly net on the RARS 146.640Mhz repeater but
that has been discontinued within the last couple of years.
Our success can be attributed to the fact that we have members with
many different types of radio related interests which helps us rotate around
topics to keep things interesting.
I have a few pieces of advice if you are wanting to setup a Rowan area
radio group:
1) Find a local place (does not have to be a restaurant but radio geeks love to eat) that has a dedicated meeting room where noise is minimal.
Having access to power sources/outlets helps for show and tell demonstrations. But the main thing is to have a relatively quiet meeting
spot for presentations.
2) Plan a meeting date and STICK TO IT. It could be once a month or once every couple of months but whatever it is you need to be consistent
with when the meeting is held. The biggest reason for the failure of groups/clubs is when meeting dates are constantly being revised & changed.
3) Get interested folks to sign up to a mailing list. The Tarheelscanner group has used a Yahoo Group for many years now to remind members of meeting dates and to share information. Whatever social media format you choose make sure all interested folks are signed up to receive reminder emails. There has been many Tarheel Scanner Meetings where I have been reminded on the last minute about.
Good luck to you guys and feel free to email me about any other questions you might have!
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR

I'm good for whenever, hah. Though a place I can also recommend is, if any of us like Asian, a FANTASTIC Asian place called My Bento by UNCC. It's also got the widest selection of Sushi I've ever seen for like, $9 all you can eat. As for meeting rooms, Concord Fire Stations 3, 7, and 9 have community rooms available though I don't know how much they are...

I could probably make a few phone calls if we decided to meet at one of the fire stations in Concord and avoid any charges.

The reason I suggested or asked about a food establishment was so we could do a meal beforehand if everyone is so inclined. However, that's not set in stone and we can meet somewhere else if everyone decides to forego the meal.

So should we take a poll? Would everyone rather meet somewhere we can do a meal, or just find somewhere else to meet? I'm sure we could take food to somewhere like Station 3, but I was trying to avoid something like that so we don't have to worry about clean up.

Thursday nights would be fine with me, and I agree with Shannon that at least 1830 or later would be good as to give time for everyone to get off of work. I don't frequent Lexington much anymore so I'm not sure what good BBQ places are around up there. Anyone have any suggestions?

As far as around Salisbury/Rowan County I know we'd have room to meet at Hendrix BBQ in Spencer, and I'm sure we could work something out at Gary's BBQ in China Grove.

+1 for food. I think Salisbury/Lexington is fine (they're not THAT far apart). If we've already got some locations for Salisbury, we should lead off with that idea. If those fall through, we can expand the search up towards Lexington and go from there.

What kind of lead time are we looking at? Next week? 2 weeks? a month? The sooner we can nail a date down the easier it'll be to coordinate and keep our schedules open.